“So you and Dugan got along. Then what?” Drystan asked.
“The Arch Wizard put together this traveling marketplace. I don’t know, I guess he wanted more groups of people to interact. So, we went, and Dugan met his mate. She’s a wizard. Her name is Verly Giles. After they met she came to live with us, and things were different. Dugan didn’t have time to do anything but hang out with her. That wasn’t how it was supposed to be, he’s my brother. My only family. I started thinking about striking out on my own, and how it would be impossible within the Consilium Veneficus. They pretend they want all the races to join, but they only care about wizards. Dugan used to complain about that all the time until he met her.”
Drystan wasn’t going to waste time explaining what place a mate was supposed to have in your life and that if Duff was patient and understanding, they could’ve all found a way to get along. He wanted details and to get them, he needed to keep Duff talking. “So Dugan and Verly ignored you, and you wanted some independence. How did you get to Las Vegas?”
“It was easy. I’m a cat and a small one. I just went to the airport and shifted. I climbed into a large animal crate with another cat that I hid behind. I went to New York first. I didn’t know that the humans and the Council have a treaty which doesn’t allow shifters to go anywhere in their world. I needed help, and they basically told me to fuck off. I didn’t know what to do, so I did the sneaking into the cat carrier thing again and flew to Las Vegas. It’s where the Council Headquarters is, so I figured it’d be awesome. Only it wasn’t because I didn’t have an identification card, and I knew there’d be all kinds of questions. I was afraid if I went to the fallen knights, they’d call my brother. I didn’t know you guys don’t know shit about what happens within the Consilium, otherwise I wouldn’t have spent a few months hiding in a smelly gym with barely any food.”
“That’s where the Antonov kids found you, right?” Drystan asked.
“Yeah, I started doing the whole playing sports thing basically because I was bored as shit and didn’t know what the hell to do. I’d really fucked myself over. I almost called my brother, but then Mr. and Mrs. Antonov invited me to come to their house. It was the best. There were kids my age and I had fun there.”
“But they couldn’t afford to feed another mouth, so they started telling you that you needed a sanctuary,” Drystan said.
“Yeah, I’d told them my parents were dead, and I sure as hell didn’t mention Dugan. Since their son Victor Antonov works for the Arch Lich and the Lich Sentinel, the subject of D’Vaire came up. Everyone was talking about how they had plenty of money and it was the best sanctuary out there. I liked the idea of money—my brother’s our leader but he doesn’t have a pot to piss in. That clicked in my head as the perfect place to go.”
“You made it through the application process,” Conley prompted.
“Yeah, I mean I just told them the same shit I told the Antonovs. They asked me about where the Kellas cats were. I lied and said I had this hard-as-fuck time growing up in tents and shit. I might not have had much money growing up, but we had a house. It was actually a really good story, I was proud of myself for my creativity. I told them I didn’t know if there were any more Kellas cats alive and that if we had an alpha, he must be a secret or some shit. Everyone kept talking about how hard it was going to be to get into D’Vaire but since I told them I didn’t have any connections and there was no alpha, they had nothing to verify. I got in.”
“Had you spoken with Dugan during this time? Was he concerned about you?” Drystan asked.
“I didn’t talk to him. I was still mad as shit at him and Verly.”
“What happened after you got to D’Vaire?”
“They told me there weren’t really young people there but when I arrived, I met Idris and Del. Honestly, I didn’t want to like them, because they were wizards, but at first we got along,” Duff said. He rolled his eyes. “I mean Idris would make friends with a crack in the sidewalk and Del’s hot as fuck. I made up all kinds of lies so they’d think I was just like them, freaks and shit. I pretended I was a virgin and only liked dudes. I took a vow of chastity along with them to wait for my mate. Such shit. I was so glad when Mac showed up, and at least Idris was no longer virginal. I figured Del would change his mind about sex and let me fuck him. But you know, he acted like his ass was a temple and wouldn’t let me near it. Honestly, those black eyes of his creep me the fuck out, and I think magic’s a bunch of garbage, but his ass is on a level of its own, you know?”
“So things started to unravel a bit from there?” Drystan inquired.
“Yeah, and I started realizing I was stuck out in the middle of fucking nowhere. They’re all about learning and books. I don’t want to be in school forever. I hate it. I started missing my old life, even though I was ignored. Dugan and Verly may not have made the time for me I deserved, but at least I had freedom. I mean I could go out to a club, but I had to have an escort like I was a fucking child. I decided to give my brother a call.”
Drystan met criminals all the time, but those who were as self-centered as Duff always pissed him off, but he kept his tone even. “What happened when you called Dugan?”
“He gets on the phone and he’s all bitching because I ran away. I was apologizing and shit while trying to explain where I was. He put me on speaker so Verly could listen and when she heard the name D’Vaire, she got super excited. She said her cousin, Jael, knew someone who needed to get revenge on D’Vaire. Verly told me the D’Vaires were cruel to a woman named Latarian, and I might be able to help her get some justice. I’d heard about Latarian plenty, but I figured there were two sides to every story. Maybe she wasn’t all bad, because the D’Vaires are always trying to be goody-goody and seriously, that can’t all be real. No one’s like that. So, we talked a few times, and Dugan promised things would get better if I helped Verly and her cousin.”
“Plans started to form about how to get her revenge, I’m assuming,” Drystan prompted.
Duff stretched back against his chair. It was clear he’d gone from being scared to enjoying the attention. “Yeah, when they heard about Del, they thought he was perfect. They could steal his magic and give it to Latarian. By then, I was completely pissed at him for being such a jerk and not letting me fuck him, so I was on board.”
“You’d already started a new social life beyond Del and Idris,” Drystan said.
“Yeah, I mean I was having fun too. I enjoy clubbing and sex. I started going out all the time. We thought it could work to our advantage, we could nab him in a public place—but fucking Del. He continued to sit home and wait patiently for his mate. Verly told me Jael was getting real frustrated, but what the fuck was I supposed to do?”
“When Del met Grigori, did that affect things?” Drystan asked.
“We all thought we were fucked at that point, and we were scrambling to figure out what to do. Then Del and Grigori rushed into their ceremony. I thought our plan was over. I was ready to go home, but Latarian told Jael they could figure out how to get Carvallius back. He had a spell to hide a matebond. Apparently Latarian was pissed at her grandfather for going to D’Vaire, but Jael thought it was best because he was a skeleton, and they had no clue how to fix his ass.”
“How was anyone going to cast these spells? Carvallius and Latarian were both warlocks in life but after resurrection had no power,” Conley said.
Duff shrugged. “Their problem, not mine. I don’t know shit about magic, and I don’t want to know. I just wanted to hurt Del. He rejected me—I would’ve been good to him.”
“Vampire club. What happened?” Drystan prompted.
“Finally, Del decided to go out again. He went to a club before I called my brother, but it was his first and only time. He’s so lame. We hatched a plan for me to get him outside. Verly was going to use her magic to trap him.”
Drystan barely refrained from rolling his eyes. It was laughable that they all thought Delaney would have been so easy to take down. Ther
e were few people on the planet who had his kind of power. “Then what? You had Del trapped. You were going to take him where?”
“Verly was supposed to call Jael. He’d teleport over with a car.”
“Where would you drive?”
“Jael had that all worked out. I didn’t need to know all those fucking details. I did my part, and I was going home.”
From Drystan’s point of view, Jael had gotten rid of a big mess on his hands. He doubted the wizard had intended to teleport out of Europe. The club was in the middle of Las Vegas, and it would only take seconds for Latarian to be identified and caught. Jael was probably laughing his ass off. The former and now-dead Arch Lich Sigimund had resurrected the pair, then saddled Jael with Carvallius and Latarian.
Somehow, he’d convinced Carvallius he needed the D’Vaires to help him, and he had tricked Latarian into getting herself caught. His cousin Verly was safe, and the troublemaker Duff was also going to be taught a stern lesson about criminal behavior. Drystan was thrilled they had finally taken down Carvallius and Latarian, but he was going to have a long talk with Alaric. Jael Giles was the son of the former Arch Wizard Egidius.
The Arch Wizard hadn’t been a kind man. He’d held the body of Drystan’s mate hostage for centuries and had hated the Council. Was his son grateful to be rid of Carvallius and Latarian after being sucked into the situation by Sigimund, or did he have a larger plan to create havoc in the Council? He was worth keeping an eye on.
As for Duff, he would be punished for his role in trying to kidnap Delaney. Then Drystan would happily put his ass on a plane and send him back to his conniving brother and his wizard mate. They had zero hope of getting their hands on Jael, Verly, or Dugan, so he’d have to be satisfied with nabbing the woman at the center of it all. He could only imagine the partying going on at his son’s home. Carvallius and Latarian would face their final justice, and there was a pair of darkfallen who deserved a few minutes alone with them to say good-bye.
Chapter 40
While the mood was jovial as Delaney found a seat in the D’Vaire living room with Grigori at his side for their weekly meeting, the excitement of capturing Latarian was tempered by Duff’s betrayal. The Reverent Knights gave them the details they could about Duff’s real history, and he was sentenced to several years behind bars for his role in Delaney’s attempted kidnapping. It was hysterical to Delaney that the shifter and his shitty cohorts thought they could take him down. Fate might have made Delaney strange, but she was generous when doling out his power.
Delaney reached up and petted Greggory, then kissed Grigori as the room grew quiet. Aleksander had arrived, and it was time to begin. When Delaney turned his head to give his king his attention, he was surprised to find Chander and Alaric taking a seat alongside Aleksander.
“Thanks, everyone, for being here tonight,” Aleksander said. “We’re going to start with Chand, who has a few words he’d like to say to all of us. Chand?”
Chander blew out a breath. “I’m here tonight because I need to give each and every one of you my most sincere apology. I recommended D’Vaire to the Antonovs and because of that, Duff wound up here. If I’d known the truth about him, I would never have put any of your family in danger.”
“Is he serious?” Dra’Kaedan asked Alaric.
“I did mention none of you would blame him,” the Lich Sentinel remarked.
“Chand, we love you. You’re a part of this family. We knew the dangers of opening our doors to strangers. Brogan was the first to bang that drum, and it seems we didn’t pay enough heed to his words,” Dre’Kariston said.
“The question is, do we keep ourselves at the mercy of outsiders? I think we need to have a serious discussion about whether it’s smart to continue with Dra’Kaedan’s Coven,” Dra’Kaedan commented.
“Before we go down that road, keep in mind that without Duff, we’d still be sitting around with danger looming. He helped us finally capture Latarian so we can put the past where it belongs,” Saura pointed out. “Thanks to him, we can tie both her and Carvallius on the other side.”
“Saura’s right. Without Duff, it might’ve been years before Latarian showed her face,” T’Eirick added. “You are all the ones who told us how lazy she was and how her plans lacked intelligence as well as cohesiveness.”
“Are we really going to shut our doors because of one bad seed?” Mac asked.
“I have a fairly straightforward way to fix this,” Worth remarked. “We simply need a new rule. Duff was able to bypass all the safeguards you put in place because he had no references. There was zero way to confirm his words. From this point on, we say if we can’t verify what you’ve told us, then we’re terribly sorry, but we have to deny your application.”
Brogan smiled. “I think that’s something worth voting on.”
“Let’s do it. All those in favor of keeping our sanctuary open if we add Worth’s rule, raise your hands,” Aleksander invited. Hands flew up all around the room. Aleksander glared at Chander and Alaric, who hadn’t voted. The two lifted their arms to make it unanimous.
“Great. That was easier solved than I thought it’d be. I want to thank Del for his quick thinking,” Aleksander said.
Delaney grinned. “Hey, I’m just glad I got the chance. I had to stay home the first time around since I was a kid. The other night made me feel like I finally earned the name D’Vaire.”
Aleksander’s eyes met his and they were full of barely leashed fury. “Listen to me, Delaney. The first time anyone looked at you with fear in their eyes, you earned the name D’Vaire. For every harsh comment, hideous nickname, or hurt feeling they ever gave you, the D’Vaire name was yours. You earned it before you ever walked through those doors. And since you got here, you’ve elevated it by giving your heart to each of us. We love you, and we know how special we are to you because every action you make is for us. Don’t you ever forget that.”
On the verge of tears, Delaney bobbed his head. Aleksander’s face morphed into a smile and he gave a little nod, then moved on to the next item on his agenda. Overwhelmed by everything Aleksander said to him, he leaned against Grigori and the vampire’s arm tugged him even closer. Somehow, he’d gone from a child given the cruel name Scary to a man with an incredible mate and a family he cherished.
Becoming a D’Vaire was the start of his life—thanks to Vadimas leading him to the most incredible place on earth. It reminded Delaney that he still had a conversation to have with the Prism Wizard. He made a mental note to get it done as soon as possible. Whatever the past was, he wanted to know. The D’Vaires as a whole had lifted an enormous weight off their shoulders, and it was time for Delaney to do the same with his biological origins.
* * *
Vadimas greeted Delaney and Grigori with a smile. He was more than willing to come to D’Vaire for a visit, and it helped Delaney that they would have this important discussion where he was most comfortable. With no idea what to expect, his nerves were working overtime.
“Grigori, have I mentioned what a fine pair you two make?” Vadimas asked.
“I’m so glad you think so. Fate’s been so good to me,” Grigori responded as he gave Delaney a look that reflected his feelings of love perfectly.
“Well, let’s have a seat,” Vadimas invited. Delaney and Grigori chose to share a large chaise, and Vadimas took a seat opposite them. They were outside, and the rich fragrance of Dravyn’s garden always managed to help calm Delaney when he was filled with anxiety.
Delaney decided the best approach was to be as direct as possible. “I have a confession to make. When I reached High Arcanist and had the entire Spectra Wizardry computer system available to me, I searched for my file.”
Vadimas’s expression grew shuttered. “I knew you would.”
“You sealed it on purpose. You have my DNA. It’s required for all wizards in the Spectra Wizardry. You told me there were no matches when I asked you who my parents were. If that’s true, why is my file sealed?”
; “Del, I have my reasons, which I’m not going to share, for sealing your file.”
Grigori tightened his hold on Delaney’s hand. “I think Del has a right to know about his parentage. He wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important to him.”
The Prism Wizard was a study in frustration as he hopped to his feet and leaned against the deck railing with his back toward the couple. “I know it’s difficult to understand, but sometimes not knowing is better than the truth.”
“That’s the opposite of everything you’ve ever taught me. Since I was four years old, you’ve been a good friend to me. You brought me here, you gave me everything. You’re not only my leader, you’re part of my family. All I’m asking is to know about the people who gave me life.”
Vadimas swung around suddenly and his eyes blazed with anger. “Not all mysteries are meant to be solved and because of our close association, I will always do what is best for you even if you don’t like it. I will not answer your question. Know this—you’re better than them. They don’t deserve you,” he responded, his voice tight with the intensity of his emotions.
Delaney jumped up so they were face-to-face. “I scare them too, don’t I? That’s why they got rid of me and I wound up passed through all those foster homes and orphanages. I’ve scared people—especially wizards—my whole life. They probably think I’m evil just like all the others. Do you think I can’t handle the truth? Just say it. They threw me away because they considered me an aberration.”
They stood and stared at each other—both irritated for different reasons—for several seconds, then Vadimas pulled Delaney into his embrace. “They don’t deserve you,” he repeated softly. He released Delaney and stepped back. “You have a family, a mate, and you’re extremely successful. You’re only twenty-two years old, and you already earned the title of High Arcanist. Let that be enough in this case. They are your past. The two people I’ve sealed your record for are the DNA that formed you and nothing more.”
Becoming D'Vaire (D'Vaire, Book 11) Page 32
